Gran Premio De Espana 2009
The MotoGP moved to Spain and into it’s first race in the European leg. In total contrast to the appalling weather at Motegi a week ago which saw qualifying cancelled, the qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix saw some splendid weather, with the track bathed in glorious sunshine. The championship leader and man of the moment, Jorge Lorenzo set the fastest time in his home race. His big Spanish rival Dani Pedrosa had to settle for the 2nd place after the pair had battled for pole. On one of his least favoured tracks, Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner did well to make it to the front row. This left defending champion Valentino Rossi outside the front row for the first time this season, in 4th.
However, Sunday saw a downturn in fortunes for Lorenzo as he crashed out of the race while he was in fourth position with three laps to go. The crash also resulted in him being left behind in the championship. The day belonged to his team-mate Valentino Rossi. His first win of the season saw him beat Dani Pedrosa by a 2.7 second margin. Casey Stoner secured his first podium finish at Jerez and was pretty pleased with his race.
From the 2nd place on the grid, Pedrosa made one of his trademark strong
starts and led the first half of the race. But, with ten laps to go, Rossi snatched the lead from him and didn’t look back since then. Randy de Puniet had an excellent race to bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place. Marco Melandri had another strong race to come home in fifth for the Hayate Racing team and Loris Capirossi was sixth for Rizla Suzuki. This meant that five different manufacturers were represented in the top six positions. The championship, thus sees Rossi claim the lead and open out an 11 point lead(65 points). Casey Stoner came in second(54 points) leaving Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa tied with 41 points each.
In the 125 cc category, Julián Simón took the second pole of the season on Saturday. His team-mate Bradley Smith was the next-best and series leader Andrea Iannone was 3rd. On Sunday, it was Bradley Smith who romped home to his first-ever victory, in his 50th Grand Prix. Normally not a great starter, Smith got away brilliantly and had a lonely race, eventually coming home 13 seconds clear of the chasing pack. The home rider Julián Simón suffered a nasty highside on lap five and was unable to continue. Earlier, series leader Andrea Iannone went down in an accident on lap one. The Italian got back on track to complete the race in 19th.
In the 250 cc class, local boy Álex Debón made sure that it was three Spaniards on pole in all the three World Championship categories. The 250cc race was a spectacular battle between four riders. In the end, Scot Racing team’s Hiroshi Aoyama came out on top beating home hero Álvaro Bautista. World Champion Marco Simoncelli was third. The race saw the lead continuously changing between the trio. Fourth place was claimed by Héctor Barberá. This was sweet revenge for Aoyama after he was denied victory at home in Japan just a week ago. This time round, Bautista was given a taste of his own medicine, as he was denied victory in his home circuit.
Moto GP now moves to France’s Le Mans circuit in two weeks time. Valentino
Rossi is well on his way in his title-defence. But, he is well-aware of the tough competition that he faces this time round. The racing can only get better from here-on.
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